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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Initial Testing of the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) in Lunar Environment Simulation at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) in 2022

Understanding how to effectively train for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) for Artemis missions is critical. Tasked by the new Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program(EHP), a team of stakeholders from engineering and flight operations worked together to test the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility (xEMU) in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab(NBL) simulating the lunar environment. The NBL is a pool in which astronauts are typically trained to complete simulated International Space Station (ISS) EVA tasks in a neutral weigh-out. The overall focus for this test series was evaluating how well the NBL could be used as an effective simulated environment for Artemis lunar EVAs. New NBL support hardware was manufactured to support this test series and update the interfaces to be more representative of xEMU hardware such as a new NBL Portable Life Support System(PLSS)mock-up and umbilical, lights and cameras, and display and control unit (DCU).To simulate the 1/6th-gravity (1/6-g) environment, extra weights were added around the suit to create an accurate center of gravity representation. The Partial Gravity Weigh-out Stand (PGWS) predicted where and how much weight would be required for the 1/6th-G simulation and predicted the center of gravity placement. After the weigh-out attempt was completed, the suited participant would complete a set of directed tasks such as kneeling, object pick-up, and walking to evaluate the weigh-out. To create the lunar environment, sand, boulders, and ramps were added to the pool floor. If time allowed after weigh-out was determined acceptable, the flight operations team would direct the suited participants to complete simulated Artemis EVA tasks using flight-like tools and tool cart. The team also evaluated turning out the overhead lights in the NBL for a portion of some of the test runs and using a solar simulator to create amore realistic lunar south pole lighting environment. The test series completed one unmanned test and nine manned tests. With four of the tests, dual xEMU suited operations were completed with subjects in both the small and large xEMU sizes. Overall, the NBL was able to create an acceptable lunar landscape and ability to have two subjects work side by side in pressurized xEMUs which currently cannot be achieved in other test environments. Achieving a stable 1/6th-G lunar weigh-out and clear, consistent dual suit communications was a challenge for this series. Future work is planned to continue to improve this simulation environment.

spacesuit↗
NASA NTRS1994

POINTER: Portable Intelligent Trainer for External Robotics

Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS's) play an increasing role in training and education of people with different levels of skill and knowledge. As compared to conventional computer based training (CBT) an ITS provides more tailored instruction by trying to mimic the teaching behavior of a human instructor as much as possible and is therefore much more flexible. This paper starts with an introduction to ITS's, followed by the description of an ITS for training of an (astronaut) operator in monitoring and controlling robotic arm procedures. The robotic arm will be used for exchange of equipment between a space station and a space plane involving critical and accurate movements of the robotic arm. The ITS for this application, called Pointer, is developed by TNO Physics and Electronics Laboratory and is based upon an existing ITS that includes procedural training. Pointer has been developed on a workstation whereas the target platform was a portable computer. Therefore, a lot of attention had to be paid to scaling effects and keeping up with user friendliness of the much smaller user interface. Although the learning domain was the control of a robotic arm, it is clear that use of intelligent training technologies on a portable computer has many other applications (payload operations, operation control rooms, etc.). Training can occur at any time and place in an attractive and cost effective way.

Kuiper, Hilbert↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Helmet-Mounted Display Technology for Eva Training in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab

Currently, during extravehicular activity (EVA) on the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts are in constant communication with mission control; however, this paradigm will significantly change during future NASA exploration missions due to limited and time-delayed communications. As exploration missions will thereby require an increase in crew autonomy, it is hypothesized that heads-up display (HUD) technology can supplement communications with mission control. Before introducing novel display technology to EVA operations, it must first be demonstrated and evaluated in an EVA training environment. The UC Davis Center for Spaceflight Research, in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center’s Human Physiology, Performance, Protection, and Operations (H-3PO) Lab has developed a low-cost and rapid development helmet-mounted display (HMD) for EVA training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL). The first two phases of HMD testing (Phase I and II) at the NBL focused on technology and capability development and demonstration. Crew member feedback was obtained that evaluated aspects of HMD including its user satisfaction, visibility, readability, and usefulness. Overall, feedback indicated HMD was readable, un-obtrusive, and the available display modes had potential to be useful and enhance EVA training. HMD display modes currently available include: real-time biofeedback (metabolic rate), phase elapsed time (PET), ability to set timers, task procedural aids (e.g. Pistol Grip Tool settings) and custom messages. The goal for Phase III, which is currently underway, is to evaluate the effects that access to bioinformatics through HMD has on astronaut training and performance at the NBL. For this phase of testing, crewmembers will be asked to perform a go/no-go task while wearing HMD throughout the NBL run to characterize crew member state of situational awareness with respect to HMD. This information could be used to inform how best to display relatively important or supplemental, but not critical, data in the future.

Heads up display↗
NASA NTRS2002

Training, transfer, and retention of three-dimensional spatial memory in virtual environments

Human orientation requires one to remember and visualize spatial arrangements of landmarks from different perspectives. Astronauts have reported difficulties remembering relationships between environmental landmarks when imagined in arbitrary 3D orientations. The present study investigated the effects of strategy training on humans' 1) ability to infer their orientation from landmarks presented ahead and below, 2) performance when subsequently learning a different array, and 3) retention of configurational knowledge over time. On the first experiment day, 24 subjects were tested in a virtual cubic chamber in which a picture of an animal was drawn on each wall. Through trial-by-trial exposures, they had to memorize the spatial relationships among the six pictures around them and learn to predict the direction to a specific picture when facing any view direction, and in any roll orientation. Half of the subjects ("strategy group") were taught methods for remembering picture groupings, while the remainder received no such training ("control group"). After learning one picture array, the procedure was repeated in a second. Accuracy (% correct) and response time learning curves were measured. Performance for the second array and configurational memory of both arrays were also retested 1, 7, and 30 days later. Results showed that subjects "learned how to learn" this generic 3D spatial memory task regardless of their relative orientation to the environment, that ability and configurational knowledge was retained for at least a month, that figure rotation ability and field independence correlate with performance, and that teaching subjects specific strategies in advance significantly improves performance. Training astronauts to perform a similar generic 3D spatial memory task, and suggesting strategies in advance, may help them orient in three dimensions.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Behavioral Health and Performance Operations and Research in Human Spaceflight

There are two distinct functions of the Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) specialists at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), with a shared goal of promoting optimal performance during all mission phases, beginning with selection to the NASA Astronaut Corps through training for and completing a spaceflight mission. The BHP Operations team is active in areas such as selection, training, routine behavioral healthcare services, and work-rest schedule. The BHP Laboratory is engaged in research in space and analog platforms to address the risks and other challenges associated with future deep space missions. Their research focuses on topics that align with the NASA Human Research Program’s Human Factors Behavioral Performance Element goals. This panel will provide details of recent work by BHP Operations and the BHP Laboratory at NASA JSC, and will demonstrate their shared goals, and contributions toward, optimizing performance and maintaining the behavioral health and well-being of astronauts during all mission phases.In 2020-2021, NASA engaged another astronaut applicant screening process to identify its 23rd group of astronaut candidates. The BHP Operations team completed a significant amount of work to evaluate applicants and provide valuable input to the Astronaut Selection Board and the Aerospace Medical Board. One presentation will provide an overview of the work completed by BHP; and one presentation will discuss a critical competency important for successful job performance of the astronauts – Team Orientation. The former will summarize aspects of BHP’s Select-in and Select-out process and provide lessons learned for future selection cycles; the latter will briefly discuss the competencies of BHP’s applicant screening work, with focus on the importance of Team Orientation and the challenges of its measure. A third presentation will provide an overview of BHP’s current fatigue management work with astronauts and mission-critical operators at JSC (e.g., flight directors, pilots), and provide a look at the direction these fatigue management services may take in future exploration missions. Two other presentations will focus on the research completed by the BHP Lab to measure in a standardized way the critical aspects of behavioral health and well-being. One of the presentations will provide an overview of the Exploration Measures being collected during all space and analog missions, and the importance these objective measures have for future research and operations. The final presentation will summarize analyses completed with these measures, as they have been harmonized across both ISS and Analog missions.

Gary Beven↗
NASA NTRS1993

Transfer of training for aerospace operations: How to measure, validate, and improve it

It has been a commonly accepted practice to train pilots and astronauts in expensive, extremely sophisticated, high fidelity simulators, with as much of the real-world feel and response as possible. High fidelity and high validity have often been assumed to be inextricably interwoven, although this assumption may not be warranted. The Project Mercury rate-damping task on the Naval Air Warfare Center's Human Centrifuge Dynamic Flight Simulator, the shuttle landing task on the NASA-ARC Vertical Motion Simulator, and the almost complete acceptance by the airline industry of full-up Boeing 767 flight simulators, are just a few examples of this approach. For obvious reasons, the classical models of transfer of training have never been adequately evaluated in aerospace operations, and there have been few, if any, scientifically valid replacements for the classical models. This paper reviews some of the earlier work involving transfer of training in aerospace operations, and discusses some of the methods by which appropriate criteria for assessing the validity of training may be established.

Cohen, Malcolm M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Medical Scenarios Relevant to Spaceflight

The Medical Operational Support Team (MOST) was tasked by the JSC Space Medicine and Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) to incorporate medical simulation into 1) medical training for astronaut-crew medical officers (CMO) and medical flight control teams and 2) evaluations of procedures and resources required for medical care aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Development of evidence-based medical scenarios that mimic the physiology observed during spaceflight will be needed for the MOST to complete these two tasks. The MOST used a human patient simulator, the ISS-like resources in the Medical Simulation Laboratory (MSL), and evidence from space operations, military operations and medical literature to develop space relevant medical scenarios. These scenarios include conditions concerning airway management, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and mitigating anaphylactic symptoms. The MOST has used these space relevant medical scenarios to develop a preliminary space medical training regimen for NASA flight surgeons, Biomedical Flight Controllers (Biomedical Engineers; BME) and CMO-analogs. This regimen is conducted by the MOST in the MSL. The MOST has the capability to develop evidence-based space-relevant medical scenarios that can help SLSD I) demonstrate the proficiency of medical flight control teams to mitigate space-relevant medical events and 2) validate nextgeneration medical equipment and procedures for space medicine applications.

Bacal, Kira↗
NASA NTRS2015

Evaluation of the Accuracy of Astroskin as a Behavioral Health Self-Monitoring System for Spaceflight

In space, there is a need to monitor astronauts' vital signs and assess their readiness to perform specific tasks during a mission. Currently, NASA does not have the capability to noninvasively monitor crew for extended periods of time. The Canadian Space Agency is working with the Psychophysiology Lab at NASA ARC to determine if the Astroskin could be used as a solution to this problem. Astroskin, a commercially available garment with built-in biosensors, can be comfortably worn under clothing or a spacesuit and relay information to the crewman's own mobile device. Data can also be sent wirelessly to the on-board Exploration Medical System. To determine if Astroskin meets requirements for health monitoring, it must first be validated in spaceflight analog environments. In the current study Astroskin data will be compared to traditional biomedical instrument measures of electrocardiography (ECG), respiration rate, and systolic blood pressure. The data will be recorded during Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), which is a type of physiological self-regulation training designed for astronauts. The data will also be recorded during simulations of the Orion spacecraft re-entry. The results to date suggest that Astroskin is a suitable ambulatory monitoring system that allows astronauts to self-diagnose and self-regulate adverse autonomic nervous system responses to sustained exposure to microgravity of spaceflight.

biomedical↗
NASA NTRS1972

Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual

A Saturn 1B Flight Manual provides launch vehicle systems descriptions and predicted performance data for the Skylab missions. Vehicle SL-2 (SA-206) is the baseline for this manual; but, as a result of the great similarity, the material is representative of SL-3 and SL-4 launch vehicles, also. The Flight Manual is not a control document but is intended primarily as an aid to astronauts who are training for Skylab missions. In order to provide a comprehensive reference for that purpose, the manual also contains descriptions of the ground support interfaces, prelaunch operations, and emergency procedures. Mission variables and constraints are summarized, and mission control monitoring and data flow during launch preparation and flight are discussed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1980

Tolerance of Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) in endurance runners, weightlifters, swimmers and nonathletes

Thirteen endurance runners (R), 12 weightlifters (WL), 12 swimmers (SW) and 10 nonathletes (NA) were tested for their tolerance of lower body negative pressure (LBNP) in consecutive 5 minute stages at -20, -30, -40, -50 and -60 torr. Each subject also performed an exercise test on a bicycle ergometer with progressive workloads to exhaustion to determined aerobic capacity. The R had a much higher aerobic capacity than any of the other groups, but a significantly lower LBNP tolerance. While responses in heart rate and pulse pressure were quite similar in all 4 groups, the rate of increase in leg volume relative to LBNP stress (leg compliance, LC) was considerably greater in R than in the other athletes and NA. The greater LC in R could be attributed not only to a more rapid shift of blood to the lower extremities but also to a greater tendency for edema formation, both contributing to a more rapid loss in effective central blood volume for a given LBNP stress. These results substantiate earlier observations which led to the conclusion that endurance running is not advisable as a training regimen for astronauts.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1980

Annual survey of spaceflight safety systems - 10th supplement /Survey period: July 1979-June 1980/

The survey summarizes 15 papers whose topics represent significant safety developments reported between July 1979 and June 1980 in connection with spaceflight. The majority of the papers address the Space Shuttle mission (control-system software modification; abort procedures; Vandenberg AFB launch operations; assembly and repair of the Orbiter's Thermal Protection System; flight hardware). One paper describes a procedure aiding Space Transportation System (STS) payload organizations in complying with safety requirements established by NASA. Spacecraft cabin environments, collision avoidance in near-earth space, and intercept and rendezvous charts are other topics of discussion. The survey also includes two papers outlining the European and Chinese approaches to astronaut selection and training.

Brown, N. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

NOSL experiment support

An optical lightning detector was constructed and flown, along with Vinton cameras and a Fairchild Line Scan Spectrometer, on a U-2 during the summer of 1979. The U-2 lightning data was obtained in daylight, and was supplemented with ground truth taken at Langmuir Laboratory. Simulations were prepared as required to establish experiment operating procedures and science training for the astronauts who would operate the Night/Day Optical Survey of Thunderstorm Lightning (NOSL) equipment during the STS-2 NOSL experiment on the Space Shuttle. Data was analyzed and papers were prepared for publication.

Brook, M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Bedrest in healthy women: Effects of menstrual function and oral contraceptives

With the development of the space shuttle program, space flight for the first time is available to individuals who have not been specially selected and trained to be astronauts. In addition, women are being actively recruited into the space program, both as mission specialists and as career astronauts. One purpose of this project was to examine some of the physiological responses of women to a simulated weightlessness program (12 day horizontal bedrest), to compare their responses to those reported in men during similar programs, and to test whether menstrual function might alter some of the physiological changes which occur during bedrest, specifically changes in the plasma volume, exercise tolerance, and venous compliance before and after bedrest.

Fortney, Suzanne M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Orbiter post-tire failure and skid testing results

An investigation was conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center's Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility (ALDF) to define the post-tire failure drag characteristics of the Space Shuttle Orbiter main tire and wheel assembly. Skid tests on various materials were also conducted to define their friction and wear rate characteristics under higher speed and bearing pressures than any previous tests. The skid tests were conducted to support a feasibility study of adding a skid to the orbiter strut between the main tires to protect an intact tire from failure due to overload should one of the tires fail. Roll-on-rim tests were conducted to define the ability of a standard and a modified orbiter main wheel to roll without a tire. Results of the investigation are combined into a generic model of strut drag versus time under failure conditions for inclusion into rollout simulators used to train the shuttle astronauts.

Daugherty, Robert H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

National Space Transportation System Reference. Volume 2: Operations

An overview of the Space Transportation System is presented in which aspects of the program operations are discussed. The various mission preparation and prelaunch operations are described including astronaut selection and training, Space Shuttle processing, Space Shuttle integration and rollout, Complex 39 launch pad facilities, and Space Shuttle cargo processing. Also, launch and flight operations and space tracking and data acquisition are described along with the mission control and payload operations control center. In addition, landing, postlanding, and solid rocket booster retrieval operations are summarized. Space Shuttle program management is described and Space Shuttle mission summaries and chronologies are presented. A glossary of acronyms and abbreviations are provided.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1991

On the flight deck

NASA's Chief Astronaut describes what he experienced from take-off to landing on the Shuttle missions he has flown. The Chief Astronaut, curently in training for his fourth flight, has served as a pilot on one Shuttle mission and commanded two more.

Hartsfield, James↗